A field note for your care search
Look up the person behind the offer.
A licence check starts with a name, not a badge.
The mix-up
A seal on a website settles the licence question.
The clearer answer
Seals and logos on health websites can imitate official ones; the Federal Trade Commission warns that they may be fake. Source a
Use a public record to check the name.
Location rules as of September 26, 2026.
Run a name check
Ask for the full name
Copy the name and licence details of the doctor who would assess you. Keep the details from the service beside the search result.
Find the state board
To reach the state boards that keep doctors’ licence records, start with the directory offered by the Federation of State Medical Boards. Source b
Read the record
A state board’s record shows whether a doctor’s licence is current, along with public actions for rule violations. Source c
Look for a match to the person you were given. Read any restrictions or public actions rather than stopping at a name match.
Check the location rule
With online care, permission to practise generally needs to cover your location at the time of the appointment. Source d
What a clear record means
A doctor’s record alone cannot tell you how good their care is, even when no public actions appear. Source c
Some states assign doctors to different boards according to their medical degrees. Source c
Checking one board may miss a doctor listed with the other. Source c
If a name is missing or the record is unclear, ask the service which board holds it. Leave room for an explanation, then check that explanation in the board’s own record.
Sources for this note
Keep going
The first visit